KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 10): Former AmBank relationship manager Joanna Yu Ging Ping told the court on Tuesday that she believed Datuk Seri Najib Razak was fully aware of the status of his personal bank accounts at all times, and had actively used them to issue cheques.

Continuing with her testimony as a witness subpoenaed by the defence in the RM42 million civil suit filed by SRC International Sdn Bhd and its subsidiary Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd against the former prime minister, Yu said during the course of her handling of Najib's accounts, the now imprisoned Najib never questioned or disputed any incoming or outgoing transactions.

Under cross-examination by SRC's counsel, Kwan Will Sen of Lim Chee Wee Partnership, Yu agreed that Najib had essentially directed or requested fugitive Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, to coordinate with her to ensure his credit card transactions went through.

Kwan presented a BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) exchange in which Jho Low told Yu: "Please check if Ambank acc is overdrawn, boss said he wrote a big cheque".

When asked if "boss" in the message referred to Najib, Yu replied, "I believe so."

She further agreed with Kwan's inference that because Najib could sign off on cheques, his issuance of those cheques proved he was aware of and relied on the account balances. Yu also clarified that while she managed the relationship, she did not have direct access to client accounts, as it was "outside the scope of her job".

Testifying before judge Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin Shah Raja Mohzan, Yu also said only account holders have the power to issue cheques, not mandate holders of the account, adding she was well aware of the limitations of a mandate holder's authority.

Earlier, Yu agreed that account mandate letters did not authorise mandate holders to instruct third-party fund transfers, noting that such authorisation could only be given by the account holder, which, in this case, was Najib.

The court also heard that Yu had asked Jho Low in August 2014 to verify 24 credit card transactions totalling approximately RM3.3 million relating to jewellery purchases in Italy. Yu agreed that Najib had directed Jho Low to contact her to ensure those transactions were cleared.

Yu also confirmed that Jho Low had requested various transfers, including RM10 million to Umno and RM1 million to Parti Rakyat Sarawak.

Despite the accounts being overdrawn on multiple occasions, Yu noted that Najib had continued to use the funds for political, business, and personal expenditures, without ever flagging the transactions to the bank.

During re-examination by Najib's counsel, Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee from Shafee & Co, Yu acknowledged that her BBM communications were with Jho Low and not directly with Najib.

She also admitted that throughout her tenure as the relationship manager for Najib's accounts from 2011 to 2015, she operated under the impression — as fed by Jho Low — that the monies credited into the accounts were donations.

"Yes, from the incoming funds, I believed they were donation monies as represented by Jho Low, but later, I didn't know what to think; it was just cash deposits over the counter. Other than the cash deposits, we accepted the remittances in good faith, based on supporting letters claiming the funds were donations," she explained.

Yu was then released from the stand following the conclusion of her testimony. The trial will continue on Wednesday with a new witness.

SRC and Gandingan Mentari are seeking to recover RM42 million allegedly misappropriated and transferred into Najib’s personal accounts between December 2014 and February 2015.